Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee hugs outreach director Unjin Lee, the first hire made by his campaign, during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee hugs outreach director Unjin Lee, the first hire made by his campaign, during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee takes the podium during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee takes the podium during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Campaign staff for Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee celebrate in his office as Inslee speads at a podium on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Campaign staff for Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee celebrate in his office as Inslee speads at a podium on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Trudi Inslee beats on a drum with a telephone as staff celebrate after Jay Inslee became Washington State Governor-elect on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Trudi Inslee beats on a drum with a telephone as staff celebrate after Jay Inslee became Washington State Governor-elect on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee greets campaign staff during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee greets campaign staff during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee kisses his wife Trudi after giving a speech during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee kisses his wife Trudi after giving a speech during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee waves after giving a brief speech during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle. Inslee's wife Trudi is at right. less

Washington State Governor-elect Jay Inslee waves after giving a brief speech during a celebration on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Inslee campaign headquarters in Seattle. Inslee's wife Trudi is at ... more

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO / SEATTLEPI.COM

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McKenna concedes; Inslee will be governor

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Jay Inslee will become Washington’s governor in January, the fifth consecutive Democratic occupant of the state’s highest office.

“It is a great delight and a huge honor to say I will be working the next four years as governor of the state of Washington . . . I represent all 100 percent of the state of Washington as of tonight,” Inslee told jubilant supporters after receiving a concession call from Attorney General Rob McKenna.

McKenna, the Republican nominee and Inslee’s opponent in an 18-month long campaign, called Inslee to concede the race shortly before 6 p.m. on Friday evening.

The concession came after vote totals from 16 counties — where McKenna had run strongly — narrowed but did not erase Inslee’s lead. The lead went down from 55,000 to 41,000 votes, but two of Inslee’s strongest areas of support — King and Thurston counties — were expected to deliver returns later Friday.

“I think you will be assured Rob will continue in public service, but public service is not always what you get paid for,” Randy Pepple, McKenna’s campaign manager, told reporters in a conference call. He predicted the attorney general will remain active on such issues as the effort to halt human trafficking, and did not rule out a future run for public office.

Inslee was still delivering lines from his stump speech as he declared victory. “Now is the time for all of us to unite across the state of Washington to build a working Washington,” said the former congressman. He pledged to “unite the state, east and west, urban and rural,” and to “get up every single morning the next four years to go improve our economy.”

Republicans have now lost a succession of close elections in Washington. Sen. Slade Gorton lost his Senate seat to Maria Cantwell by a 2,229-vote margin in 2000. Christine Gregoire beat Dino Rossi by a 133-vote margin for governor in 2004. Rossi lost by a still-narrow margin to Gregoire in 2008, and came up short in a 2010 challenge to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.

McKenna outspent Inslee. The Republican Governors Association backed him to the tune of $11.35 million. Most of the state’s daily newspapers endorsed him. He had twice won statewide elections, against the Democratic tide, in presidential election years. He was from populous King County and had served on the King County Council.

Yet, in Pepple’s view, the victory tide of President Barack Obama was too much.

“I don’t think it’s state Republicans or the local parties that were the cause of this defeat. In a year like this, we were trying to swim upstream against a 12-13 point tide at the top of the ticket,” said Pepple.

Inslee was making his second bid for governor. He ran a distant third in the 1996 Democratic primary, stressing opposition to publicly financed sports stadiums.

Inslee has made his reputation on a trio of counts. He is always upbeat, and persistent if not relentless. As a lawyer in Selah, he won election to the Legislature from a Republican-leaning Yakima County district. He upset Democratic Party favorite Jim Jesernig to win a 1992 nomination for Congress, and then beat Republican Doc Hastings to capture the seat.

He could be gutsy, taking some tough votes for a Central Washington congressman, including support for an assault weapons ban. He moved to Bainbridge Island, ran for governor and lost, and took a federal appointment under Bill Clinton. In 1998, he upset Republican U.S. Rep. Rick White. Unlike other Democratic House nominees, Inslee took the impeachment issue head-on — claiming that partisanship was behind House Republicans’ efforts to impeach Clinton.

He found a cause in Congress. A member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, Inslee championed clean energy. He also faced down the House’s Republican rulers after Hurricane Katrina when they tried to strip Puget Sound of federal marine safety regulations and a prohibition against supertankers.

Green energy became a major theme of his campaign, laid out in a book called “Apollo’s Fire” that Inslee co-authored. The Washington Conservation Voters would end up spending $750,000 to support his run for governor. Inslee quit Congress in March to devote full time to his run for the state’s top job, drawing intense criticism.